Your Cyber Monday Shopping Can Help Create Jobs In Local Communities

ROCKVILLE, Md., Nov. 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- According to Statista, 40 percent of internet users in the United States make more than one online purchase per month, and 20 percent make online purchases on a weekly basis. This aligns with Cyber Monday's growth as the largest and fastest growing online shopping day of the year. This Cyber Monday, consumers can shop great deals at Goodwill across more than 2,000 categories of fashion and apparel, electronics, home appliances, toys, jewelry, antique and collectible items, and musical instruments to suit their likes and needs all while providing job placement and training, and education opportunities to help people in local communities.

shopgoodwill.com®, the first and only nonprofit auction site created, owned and operated by a nonprofit, was designed with Goodwill's mission of helping people find jobs and build their careers in mind. The site, which was first developed in 1999, has generated more than $212 million since its inception to provide career and community-based services to people with disabilities and disadvantages, those who lack education or job experience, and others facing challenges to finding employment. Just as the local stores do, shopgoodwill.com® uses more than 87 percent of the revenue earned to provide employment and job training opportunities to people in local communities. Last year alone, Goodwill shoppers helped place 288,000 people into career advancing opportunities. 

Shopping and bidding on shopgoodwill.com® is free and easy. More than 1.6 million registered users from all 50 states and many other countries browse, bid and buy on the auction site, where they have access to more than 200,000 donated items at any given time, plus the luxury of negotiating prices via auction. Shoppers can sort items by seller and browse locally available inventory.

Beginning today through Cyber Monday, shoppers will have access to more than 2,500 deals that have been listed for the Black Friday/Cyber Monday promotion as well as penny shipping, no handling fees and the option to immediately purchase listed items.

"shopgoodwill.com® is just one way Goodwill uses technology to benefit its mission. The site provides a unique global shopping experience to more than four million consumers per month, which generates revenue to enable people to find employment and care for their families in communities nationwide," said Ryan Smith, senior director of online operations at shopgoodwill.com®. "Items are collected from 125 local Goodwill organizations and auctioned to consumers. Additionally, the site provides opportunities for program participants to have operational jobs that are mission integrated while learning new skills, such as photography, customer services and technology, including web forms, listing and shipping, and processing, stocking and fulfillment systems."

"shopgoodwill.com® is an effective platform to help meet the needs of the increasing number of online shoppers we see today," said Kyle Stewart, senior director of donated good retail at Goodwill Industries International. "The unique variety of items on the site, its convenience and the fact that it fuels economic development in local communities makes shopgoodwill.com® a great option for this year's holiday shopping."

Be sure to visit shopgoodwill.com® for reasonably priced items that will help your community this Cyber Monday!

ABOUT GOODWILL INDUSTRIES INTERNATIONAL

Goodwill Industries International (GII) is a network of 161 community-based, autonomous organizations in the United States and Canada with a presence in 13 other countries. GII is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that is recognized by GuideStar with its Platinum Seal of Approval, the organization's highest rating for charities. For the past three years, Goodwill was ranked in the top five brands that inspired consumers the most with its mission in the World Value Index, commissioned by the creative agency, enso. Goodwill has been on Forbes' list of top 20 most inspiring companies for three consecutive years, the only nonprofit featured on that list.

Local Goodwill organizations are innovative and sustainable social enterprises that offer job placement and training services, and other community-based programs by selling donated clothing and household items in more than 3,300 stores collectively and online at shopgoodwill.com®.

Goodwill helps people facing challenges to finding employment including people with disabilities; veterans and military families; youth and young adults; older workers; people reintegrating into society; and others working to advance their careers. Local Goodwill organizations build revenues and expand employment opportunities by contracting with commercial, state, government and non-government organizations to provide a wide range of business services, including janitorial and grounds maintenance, flexible staffing, food service, manufacturing and contracts packaging, reverse logistics, document imaging and shredding, and laundry services.

Last year, local Goodwill organizations collectively placed more than 288,000 people in employment in the United States and Canada. In addition, more than 38 million people used computers and mobile devices to access Goodwill education, training, mentoring and online learning services to strengthen their skills, and more than two million people received in-person services.

For more information or to find a Goodwill location near you, visit goodwill.org, or call (800) GOODWILL. Follow us on Twitter: @GoodwillIntl and @GoodwillCapHill, and find us on Facebook and Instagram: GoodwillIntl.

SOURCE Goodwill Industries International